The strength and determination the Clipper defense needed to stop Lester Prairie’s 2-point conversion, which would have deadlocked the game at 22 with 1:47 remaining—and all the Clipper effort that led up to then—didn’t happen on the football field on Wednesday night.
Instead, Cleveland 22, Lester Prairie 20 was the result of the sweat equity earned at 6:00 a.m. weight room workouts starting way last November. It was the consequence of skills and toughness and camaraderie bult in practices and camps in the summer heat.
The Clippers’ first win over Lester Prairie after seven prior meetings and their most important win since going 11-man in 2018 was because every player in an orange & black jersey hates to lose, sets the tone and never gives up.
“Our biggest game in 11-man was last week until tonight,” said head coach Erik Hermanson. “We’re in good shape. We lifted a lot of weights. We didn’t get tired. Lester Prairie played as hard as they could. Their flying in, but you pay for that.”
But while the Clippers thought they had earned the top seed in the section, the Bulldogs somehow ended up there. Both had three losses. Both lost to Randolph and NYA. Cleveland lost to WEM while the Bulldogs beat the Bucs in three overtimes. USC, ranked two in the sections, also had three losses: by a larger point differential than Clevland to Randolph and WEM and to NYA.
So, instead of a bye on Tuesday, the Clippers host St. James Area. But that might not be a bad thing. If the Clippers win, it will be a dress rehearsal for the next game.
All on runs, the Bulldogs picked up three first downs after receiving the opening kickoff, but the drive ended on a fumble that Mason Kluntz recovered on the Clipper 35.
After the Clippers went three and out, the Bulldogs, after 13-straight running plays that extended their drive into the second quarter, scored on a 9-yard pass in the end zone. They fumbled on points-after attempt.
Brennan Kortuem returned the kickoff on the Clipper 45. After a 3-yard Caleb Possin run, the Clippers tied the contest when quarterback Carson Lyons found Braeden Smith all alone for a 53-yard catch and run to the house.
“We were trying to get a lot of movement pre-snap and post snap so we could get the defense off and get some open looks,” said Lyons.
With Possin’s PAT kick blocked, the game was suddenly deadlocked 6-6.
But Lester Prairie didn’t waste any time getting the lead back. Two plays after the ensuing kickoff, they came up with a 58-yard pass and a 2-point conversion pass to lead 14-6.
“If we stick to the game plan, we don’t give up two long touchdowns,” said assistant coach Kyle Atherton. “The two guys who messed up knew it.”
With a Possin 25-yard field goal with 4 minutes left in the half. After the Bulldogs punted on the following possession, the Clippers passed their way down field to set up a 31-yard Possin field goal attempt, but it didn’t make it to the post, and the Clippers went into their locker room trailing 14-9.
After Alex Kortuem ran the second-half kickoff to the LP 35, the Clippers took the lead when Lyons hit Tanner Simonette for a 3-yard touchdown pass. Lyons’ 35-yard pass to Bode Bartell along the sideline set up the touchdown. This time Possin’s PAT kick threaded the uprights, and the Clippers were in front 16-14.
After the kickoff, the Bulldogs turned the ball over on downs at the Clipper 34. Two plays later, in a play the Clippers worked out a week earlier, Lyons connected with Smith again down the middle. The sophomore hit the turbo button after the catch to avoid a tackle and complete his second touchdown pass, this one for 66 yards.
“I’m surprised that I didn’t get caught, really” said Smith. “I’m happy that I got looked at tonight.”
The Bulldogs blocked Possin’s kick again, but the Clippers led 22-14 with 5 minutes left in Q3.
The Bulldogs went to the air after the kickoff and picked up one first down but had to punt. So did the Clippers. Senior Nick Simonette left the field with a knee injury on the next series but got back in the game later. The Bulldogs punted again, and the Clippers had the ball on the Lester Prairie 43.
“I got sandwiched the wrong way,” Simonette said. “It hurt really badly, but I knew I had to be back and finish the game.”
From there, Lyons hit Brennan Kortuem for a 36-yard catch and run, and with short runs by Kale Kelley and Possin, the Clippers were 3 yards away from six more points. But with a pair of incomplete passes, the Bulldogs took over.
“We definitely didn’t want to kick it,” Hermanson said. “If you kick it and the ball goes past the end line or if you miss it, they go back out to the 20. We didn’t want to help them if we miss it or they block it. We wanted them to earn every yard. We trusted coach A and (coach) Matt (Miller).”
Back to the run game and draining the clock, they marched down and scored on a 12-yard pass.
“They have a great coach and a great team,” Hermanson said. “They’ve been to the state tournament. They know what they’re doing.”
But Clippers snuffed the off-tackle PAT run that would have tied the game with 1:47 left. The runner hit his knees at the Clipper 2.
“We had everyone on the tackle,” said middle linebacker Jackson Shouler. “All the backers were there. Everyone stopped him.”
Smith recovered the bouncing onside. Lyons kept the ball for 15 yards, Possin ran for three yards, Lyons completed a 5-yard pass to Brennan Kortuem and then picked up the first down the Clippers needed to knee out on a 7-yard keeper.
With 19 completions in 29 attempts for 336 yards and three touchdowns, it was a banner game for Lyons.
Shouler had to fill in for the injured David Draheim as left guard, his first stint in that position. He and the entire offensive line performed well, Lyons said.
“They kept everyone off me to keep me throwing and made it easy for me. We had some injuries this year, but we had players ready to step up and make the next play.”
“David is a great player,” Hermanson said. “They ran plays right where he would have been. Jackson was going against someone twice his size and just did yeomen’s work.”
Brennan Kortuem caught six passes for 90 yards. Tanner Simonette had five catches for 30 yards and a TD.
“We just played together,” said Simonette. “We just played as a team, and we believe in our brothers.”
Bode Bartell had two catches for 29 yards. Smith had three catches for 137 yards and two TDs. Kelley caught three passes for 50 yards.
Kelley carried the ball six times for 13 yards. Lyons kept it on six occasions for 31 yards. Possin rushed six times for 11 yards.
Possin punted twice, one for 33 yards and one for 47 yards.
Kortuem returned two kickoffs, one for 29 yards and one for 16 yards. Alex Kortuem returned one kickoff for 29 yards.
Possin had three solo tackles and five assists with two tackles behind the line. Shouler had two solos and nine assists and deflected a pass.
“It was rough, getting hit from everywhere, fighting two guys at once because I always got double teamed,” Shouler said.
Lyons had two solos and three assists and also deflected a pass. Nick Simonette had three solo tackles. Kelley made three solo tackles and assisted on five stops. Kluntz made four solos and six assists and recovered a fumble, the game’s only turnover.
“Everyone really wanted it,” said Kluntz, a 6-2, 185-lb junior. “That really drove it. We knew they try to run us over. They were banged up, and we kept fresh.”
Smith had three solos and three assists. Tanner Simonette had two solos and three assists. Brennan Kortuem had two solo tackles and a pair of pass deflections. Bartell had three solos and two assists and one pass deflection. Kiptyn Coon had one assisted tackle.
Filling in for Draheim at defensive end were Max Esser and Carsyn Ryg. Ryg’s one tackle was behind the line. Esser had one assist.
“Our defense has played all year,” Atherton said. “We knew they were going to run on us. We just had to slow the game down by slowing their run game down.”
The Bulldogs had 15 first downs, two more than Cleveland. The Clippers were penalized twice for 18 yards total while the Bulldogs had five penalties, which took away 56 yards.
The Clippers host sixth-ranked St. James Area on Tuesday with the winner taking on USC the following Saturday. On the other side, GFW and Mayer Lutheran face off for the right to play Lester Prairie.
The Clippers have a winless history with Lester Prairie. Last year they lost there 31-8. In 2022, they fell to the Bulldogs 33-0 during the regular season and 37-0 in their playoff game. A year before that, the host Clippers fell to the Bulldogs 24-0 and then lost to them on the road 37-7 in their playoff game. In 2020 it was a 28-12 loss in Cleveland. In 2019, the Clippers lost 14-7 in Lester Prairie.
St James Area has played no teams in common with the Clippers and comes into the game winless.
Most of the scores around the district on Wednesday were lopsided. Host JWP rolled over Medford 51-0. WEM topped St. Clair/Loyola 37-0. Randolph beat visiting Mayer Lutheran 34-0. NYA beat visiting GFW 47-0. In a game that affected the Clippers’ seeing, NRHEG lost to visiting USC 8-0.
Above: Nick Simonette and Owen Lloyd celebrate the win.
All quarterbacks, brothers Pierce Lyons (grade 8), Carson Lyons (grade 10) and Blake Lyons (grade 12) were at midfield for the coin toss. (photo courtesy of Rich Kern).
